‘Laura’s Winter Wonderland’ dances into the Old Opera House

Johnna Leary

Special to The Journal

CHARLES TOWN — Journey to a magical winter wonderland this weekend as the original ballet “Laura’s Winter Wonderland” premieres at the Old Opera House.

This original, world premiere ballet takes a behind-the-scenes look at the annual Christmas ballet “The Nutcracker” and teaches young dancers an important lesson.

“This original ballet tells the story of a girl who auditions for the Nutcracker hoping for the coveted part of Clara. She doesn’t get the desired part and is left in tears over the prospect of dancing the part of a fir tree. Through a dream, in a beautiful forest filled with woodland creatures, she dances with moonbeams and stars and beautiful fir trees. She learns that every part is important and ends up dancing her role with beauty and grace. As a director of many Nutcracker ballets, casting is always hard. Every student aspires to dance Clara or the Sugar Plum Fairy. My inspiration for this story was my students. I wanted to show them that every part in the Nutcracker is important, and you can make even the smallest part special if you dance it with your heart,” said Christina Franz, writer and director of “Laura’s Winter Wonderland.”

The ballet students have a lot of fun working with each other to create this special holiday tradition.

“It’s always fun to see how the show comes together. I love the excitement of being backstage and bonding with the other dancers,” said Skye Thomann, who plays Laura.

Unlike “The Nutcracker,”“Laura’s Winter Wonderland” is an entirely original ballet which has never been performed before.

“The only challenge to an original ballet is getting the dancers to understand the story line and vision. When you do a standard ballet like ‘The Nutcracker,’ the students learn the choreography and story from watching each year and they usually move up each year to different roles. In an original ballet the choreography is all brand new. We have such a talented bunch of dancers at the Old Opera House Dance Studio and they really are such beautiful expressive dancers as well. The dancers have been preparing for this ballet with weekly rehearsals in addition to their regular ballet classes since August,” said Franz.

“We have had lots of rehearsals and it takes a lot of hard work and direction from Mrs. Franz. There is no past example of the character Laura, because this ballet has never been performed before. So, I have had nothing to guide me as far as who she is as a character. With Mrs. Franz’s vision, it’s been a fun process as we create who Laura is,” said Thomann.

The dancers are eager to share this original ballet with an important message with an audience this holiday season.

“This ballet is a fun new twist with hints of ‘The Nutcracker’ in beautiful costumes, backdrops, magical falling snow and wonderful dances. It is a ballet for the entire family with a lesson and a happy ending,” said Franz.

“The ballet puts you in the holiday spirit with the touches of ‘The Nutcracker.’ It’s a fun show, with the good message that every role is important,” said Thomann